# UK Companies House Scraper - Search, Profiles & Filings (`bridged/uk-companies-house-api`) Actor

Company search, profiles, filing history, charges and SIC/incorporation-date filters from the UK Companies House official public API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bridged/uk-companies-house-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Zihan Poh](https://apify.com/bridged) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 companies

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Companies House API

Company search, full profiles, filing history, registered charges and SIC/incorporation-date
filtering from the UK Companies House **official public API** — no scraping, no login bypass.

### Why this exists

Existing Companies House actors on the store are single-endpoint (search-only or profile-only),
priced anywhere from $1.5 to $50 per 1,000 for data the government publishes for free, and several
ship officer/PSC personal data by default — a GDPR liability the buyer inherits. This actor
combines advanced search (SIC code + incorporation date + status + location) with a full company
profile in one normalized row, and keeps personal data (officers/PSCs) off by default.

### You need your own free API key

Companies House has no shared/public key. Register (free, instant, no approval wait) at
[developer.company-information.service.gov.uk](https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/)
and pass the key as `apiKey` in the input. This is the same one-time step as getting an Apify API
token — nobody else can do it for you since it's tied to your own account.

### Modes

- **search** — free-text company name search
- **advancedSearch** (default) — filter by SIC code, incorporation date range, company status, location
- **lookup** — specific companies by 8-character company number or Companies House URL

### Input

```json
{
  "apiKey": "your-companies-house-api-key",
  "mode": "advancedSearch",
  "sicCodes": ["62012"],
  "incorporatedFrom": "2023-01-01",
  "companyStatus": ["active"],
  "location": "London",
  "maxResults": 500
}
```

### Output (one row per company)

```json
{
  "companyNumber": "12345678",
  "companyName": "Example Software Ltd",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "companyType": "ltd",
  "incorporatedOn": "2019-03-04",
  "sicCodes": ["62012"],
  "registeredAddress": { "line1": "1 Example Street", "locality": "London", "postalCode": "EC1A 1AA", "country": "United Kingdom" },
  "accounts": { "lastMadeUpTo": "2025-03-31", "nextDue": "2026-12-31", "overdue": false, "accountsType": "micro-entity" },
  "confirmationStatement": { "lastMadeUpTo": "2025-06-01", "nextDue": "2026-06-15", "overdue": false },
  "hasCharges": false,
  "hasInsolvencyHistory": false,
  "previousNames": [],
  "filingHistory": [],
  "charges": [],
  "officers": [],
  "companiesHouseUrl": "https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12345678",
  "licence": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0"
}
```

Set `includeFilingHistory`, `includeCharges`, or `includeOfficers` to `true` to populate those
arrays (each costs one extra API call per company). Officers are off by default — see the
Legal notes below.

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: one `company` event per row returned. $2.00 per 1,000, no start fee.

### Data source and legality

The Companies House Public Data API (`api.company-information.service.gov.uk`) is an official UK
government API. Data is published under the Companies Act 2006 and released under the
[Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) —
commercial reuse with attribution is explicitly permitted, and this actor includes the required
attribution in every output row.

**Personal data:** officer and PSC names, month/year of birth, and correspondence addresses are
personal data under UK GDPR even though the register is public. `includeOfficers` defaults to
`false`; enabling it makes you the data controller responsible for your own lawful basis
(UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)). The actor never emits a full date of birth (the API only exposes
month/year) or residential addresses.

**Rate limits:** Companies House allows 600 requests per 5 minutes per key. This actor throttles
itself to roughly 1.7 requests/second and does not rotate keys or IPs to exceed that limit.

### Getting started

For complete information [see this article](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/development#build-actor-locally). To run the Actor use the following command:

```bash
apify run
```

### Deploy to Apify

#### Connect Git repository to Apify

If you've created a Git repository for the project, you can easily connect to Apify:

1. Go to [Actor creation page](https://console.apify.com/actors/new)
2. Click on **Link Git Repository** button

#### Push project on your local machine to Apify

You can also deploy the project on your local machine to Apify without the need for the Git repository.

1. Log in to Apify. You will need to provide your [Apify API Token](https://console.apify.com/account/integrations) to complete this action.

   ```bash
   apify login
   ```

2. Deploy your Actor. This command will deploy and build the Actor on the Apify Platform. You can find your newly created Actor under [Actors -> My Actors](https://console.apify.com/actors?tab=my).

   ```bash
   apify push
   ```

### Documentation reference

To learn more about Apify and Actors, take a look at the following resources:

- [Apify SDK for Python documentation](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python)
- [Apify Platform documentation](https://docs.apify.com/platform)
- [Join our developer community on Discord](https://discord.com/invite/jyEM2PRvMU)

# Actor input Schema

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Required. Get a free key at developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (instant, no approval wait). Companies House has no public/shared key option.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

search: free-text company name search. advancedSearch: filter by SIC code, incorporation date, status, location. lookup: fetch specific companies by number.

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Free-text company names (mode=search).

## `companyNumbers` (type: `array`):

8-character Companies House company numbers, or Companies House URLs (mode=lookup).

## `sicCodes` (type: `array`):

e.g. \["62012"] for computer programming activities (mode=advancedSearch).

## `incorporatedFrom` (type: `string`):

ISO date, e.g. 2020-01-01 (mode=advancedSearch).

## `incorporatedTo` (type: `string`):

ISO date, e.g. 2026-01-01 (mode=advancedSearch).

## `companyStatus` (type: `array`):

e.g. \["active"]. One or more of: active, dissolved, liquidation, receivership, administration, voluntary-arrangement, converted-closed, insolvency-proceedings, registered, removed, open.

## `location` (type: `string`):

Town or postcode prefix to filter registered address (mode=advancedSearch).

## `includeFilingHistory` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch and attach recent filing history per company (extra API call per company).

## `includeCharges` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch and attach registered charges per company (extra API call per company).

## `includeOfficers` (type: `boolean`):

Off by default: officer/PSC names, month/year of birth and correspondence addresses are personal data under UK GDPR. Enable only with your own lawful basis for processing it.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many companies.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "advancedSearch",
  "companyStatus": [
    "active"
  ],
  "includeFilingHistory": false,
  "includeCharges": false,
  "includeOfficers": false,
  "maxResults": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bridged/uk-companies-house-api").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bridged/uk-companies-house-api").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call bridged/uk-companies-house-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bridged/uk-companies-house-api"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/pNvVnluYhYL3ppZcu/builds/8jabXIlJ2xfkOTn2v/openapi.json